Stand out in your job search with an interactive Tableau CV

We get it, applying for jobs is hard work. With recruiters spending just 6 seconds skimming each CV, it's now more important than ever to make your CV stand out.  

No, I'm not going to recommend printing your CV on a cake. It’s simpler than that. When data literacy is one of the most in-demand skills in the workplace, your CV could be a visual representation of your data skills. Show the recruiters your analytical skills and creativity by following these tips to create your own Tableau Public Viz CV. 

Make a plan for your Tableau Viz CV

The magic of a viz CV is that it is your own data, no data collection or prep needed. . You can decide what you want to include and emphasize to sell your skills in the best possible way. Former Tableau visionary Tristan Guilleven recommends having the following elements in your CV to make it stand out:

• Timeline of your work experience
• Skills
• Portfolio of work
• Conversation starters (e.g.: “The places I have travelled to”)

Follow Tristan Guilleven’s step-by-step demonstration on how to create an interactive Tableau viz CV.

Use Gantt charts as a timeline of your work experience

Gantt charts make your timeline quick and easy to understand. Unlike lists, Gantt charts call attention to the most important items on your timeline and make your experience clear. Here you can add your start and end dates, the type of work and any of your awards, in clear chronological order. Smart filtering and visual tooltips can help provide context and draw attention to additional key points relevant to your job description.  Viz by Julia Biedry Gonzalez

Showcase your skills implicitly and explicitly  

The "skills" section is one of the most important parts of the CV. By creating a Viz CV, not only can you show your Tableau skills, you can also give a literal list to show off your other technical and soft skills. Consider how you want your key skills to stand out. You could give your skills a grade, rank them in order of importance and relevance, or highlight your top 3 skills in bright colours for that extra oomph! The possibilities are endless. In his demo, Tristan Guilleven suggested adding a triangle at the end of a bar graph of skills to represent that your skills are always developing and improving.

Viz by Tristan Guillevin

Link to portfolios and other work

You’ll almost certainly want to link to your LinkedIn profile, and depending on the type of jobs you’re applying for, you may want to link to your other social media profiles too. Showcase your best visualisations by embedding a portfolio of your work. This is a great way to give the viewer a sense of your personality, passions and talents. Take a look at Tristan Guillevin’s demo for a tutorial on how to embed your Tableau vizzes into your CV.

But don’t just stop there! You can embed a variety of different multimedia to feature in your portfolio assets, such as YouTube videos, animations and even music.

Viz by Alisha Dhillon

Express your personality through creativity

Reading through hundreds of CVs gets tiring after a while, so imagine coming across a CV like the one below. Imagine the impact of seeing an interactive CV among a pile of PDFs. You can use your creativity to bring your personality to recruiters. Your CV is a unique opportunity to show your creative flair, so think carefully about how you can use it to best present your personality, skills and experience. Consider what your colour palette, pictures and even font style could say about you (we’re looking at you comic sans).

Viz by Tich Mabiza

The Community is here to help

Not sure where to start? Take a look at the Tableau Visual Resume Templates by Christian Felix, with step-by-step instructions to help you get started. If you have any problems along the way, the Tableau Community is here to help you. The Community Forums are an infinite resource, where you can get answers to your questions, collaborate with others and get the most out of Tableau. You can’t fail, with our community support!

Visit the Interactive Tableau Public Viz Resume Gallery for more examples of Tableau resumes.

Editor’s note: This piece is part of the Generation Data series on the Tableau blog. Data skills are essential for the next generation of professionals and business leaders. The Tableau Academic Programme seeks to arm students with the valuable analytical skills needed to think strategically and make an impact, both academically and professionally. If you are a student, download your free Tableau licence today to start learning data skills.